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Our History

The History of Sherry FitzGerald

Looking at our company today and looking back at its origins, it’s interesting to see how, in the almost 40 years since its formation, the business has grown to become Ireland’s largest, fully diversified property advisory firm servicing the residential property markets.

Sherry FitzGerald was founded in 1982 when two companies – FitzGerald & Partners (founded 1972) and Sherry & Sons (founded in 1949) joined forces. We started out in 1982 with just one residential office on Merrion Row in Dublin 2 with a second office in Terenure opening in 1989.

Market Influencers

Despite the economic difficulties of the 1980’s, the company recruited for the future by forming a team of young property professionals who shared a common vision of a new type of auctioneering company. From the start, we practiced a strong gender balance philosophy, a philosophy we have continued to practice to this day. Our Chairman, Mark FitzGerald has recently joined a Government group, Better Balance for Business, to examine why so few women have senior positions in business. (August 2018)

Integrity

We understood the absolute prerequisite to have a strong ethical foundation, combined with a sense of unparalleled customer service. With this in mind, we introduced a strict rule of not allowing anyone in the company to buy a second-hand house off our own books. We also introduced opening 7 days a week into what had traditionally been a ‘9.30 – 5.30 & closed for lunch’ industry. Our strapline in those early days was ‘the new generation of estate agents’ which has subsequently evolved into ‘the agent you’d recommend to a friend’.

Leaders

In 1992 we were the first organisation outside the Department of the Environment, to provide clear house price information to the general public; this led to the launch of our Dublin House Price Index in 1996. Today we continue to employ economists and through all the challenges of the greatest property crash in Europe, we remained committed to research and transparent information by not only retaining this function, but by further resourcing it. Our National Property Index, launched in 1999, is a benchmark in terms of accurate reporting of house price trends and is published every three months.

Growing the business

In 1998 we opened our first office outside of Dublin in Galway and in that same year we launched one of Ireland’s first property websites – www.sherryfitz.ie.

1998 also saw us consolidate our growing commercial presence by forming a joint venture company with the global property advisory firm DTZ Holdings – DTZ Sherry FitzGerald. Rebranded in 2016 to Cushman & Wakefield, it is Ireland’s most successful and only nationwide commercial property advisor with offices in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick. In 2018 Cushman & Wakefield acquired our shareholding in this company though we continue as strategic partners.

In 1999 we launched Ireland’s first ever national property franchise organisation. Today there are over 70 Sherry FitzGerald franchise offices, providing property advice throughout Ireland.

In the same year (1999) the Group acquired the Ross McParland New Homes business which was subsequently rebranded Sherry FitzGerald New Homes.

The new century kicked off with the acquisition of Cork’s leading residential estate agency, Burton Crowley O’Flynn, later rebranded Sherry FitzGerald and now occupying a flagship office on Lapps Quay in the heart of Cork city.

The year 2000 also saw the launch of Mortgage Insight DAC, later rebranded Sherry FitzGerald Financial Services, providing independent mortgage and financial advice.

Innovators

In 2000 our Chief Executive, Mark FitzGerald, came up with the idea of launching a national property portal and led the process of putting together the team, the partners and the investors that made it happen, with the subsequent successful launch of myhome.ie in 2001. Myhome.ie quickly became Ireland’s largest and most innovative property website and, 5 years after its launch, was acquired by the Irish Times.

Diversification

In 2005 Sherry FitzGerald successfully diversified into the U.K. market with the acquisition of the 150-year old, central and West London estate agency of Marsh & Parsons. In the following year, Marsh & Parsons acquired another London estate agency, Vanstons, which was rebranded Marsh & Parsons, and in the subsequent 5 years we grew this network to 14 London offices employing over 200 people. In 2011 we successfully sold the Marsh & Parsons business.

The timing of the Marsh & Parsons acquisition also helped to protect the Sherry FitzGerald parent business during the depths of the property crash, enabling us to keep all our own offices open and 200 people directly employed. This made us the largest Irish property business to emerge from the crash.

Community

In 2006 we launched two community initiatives supported by the Sherry FitzGerald Foundation. "Your Home Away from Home" saw us underwrite the purchase of 5 Fontenoy Street, Phibsboro, Dublin for Temple Street Children´s Hospital to use as parents’ accommodation for two families 365 days a year. We subsequently organised two successful Walkathons to raise funds for the project.

We were also instrumental in the establishment of Amawele - a national charity which grew to twin 100 schools in Ireland with schools in the Eastern and West Cape of South Africa with the aim of opening the minds of children to the human race beyond their immediate environment.

More details around our Corporate Social Responsibility program can be found here.

Christie’s

In 2008 we were chosen by Christie’s International Real Estate to be their exclusive affiliate in Ireland. This partnership gives sellers of prestige homes in Ireland access to international markets. It also offers the owners of luxury property abroad access to local expertise when they come to sell, via the global Christie’s International Real Estate network.

Expansion

In 2013, we acquired our two residential franchise offices in Galway and Limerick and in 2014 we opened our Blackrock office.

In 2015, our Rathmines office opened on the corner of Rathmines Road Lower, Dublin 6. In the same year, Sherry FitzGerald acquired our Foxrock branch and we opened our Sundrive Road branch in Dublin 12. This was followed in 2016 by our Sandymount office in Dublin 4 and our Clonee office in Co. Meath in 2017.

In addition to the new office launches, Sherry FitzGerald also completed the acquisition of Sherry FitzGerald Lewis in Lucan and Sherry FitzGerald Blanc in Swords & Malahide.

Sherry FitzGerald now has a network of 23 owned branches in Dublin and surrounding areas, as well as 3 owned flagship offices in Cork, Galway & Limerick, and our head office. There are also 67 franchise offices throughout Ireland resulting in a total network of 94 offices.

Reflection

Since its foundation in August 1982, the Sherry FitzGerald Group has grown from a small fledgling company in one location to a nationwide, diversified business. Sherry FitzGerald Group currently employs 650 people and remains an Irish, privately owned business, committed to maintaining its leadership position in the marketplace.

In 2017, after more than 40 years in the estate agency business, Mark FitzGerald stepped down as Chief Executive of Sherry FitzGerald. Mark was succeeded by Steven McKenna, who previously held the position of Chief Financial Officer. Mark remains as Non-Executive Chairman of Sherry FitzGerald.

Our Mission is to continue to be the most trusted property advisors creating exceptional value for our clients.

In the words of our Chairman and Founder, Mark FitzGerald:

The mission of the organisation from its origins was all about selling houses but its purpose was to set a standard for market behaviour. To this day, this is what we are all about. We were never just about making money. We always recognised that we were involved at critical junctures in people’s lives and what we did or didn’t do impacted on them.

People who work for us like helping other people and sharing experiences. They like a sense of togetherness. It’s an antidote to the world of faceless technology. We enjoy working with people face-to-face and working for people face-to-face.

We recognise that we are all of equal worth as colleagues and we are proud of our family culture. We also believe that our clients are equal partners in our relationships with them.

Buying property is a complicated process. With over 40 years’ experience working with buyers all over Ireland, we’ve researched and developed a selection of useful guides and resources to provide you with the insight you need.